US Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said that the Chinese authorities are trying to exert a large-scale influence on the United States’ legislative process.
In an earlier article in the Wall Street Journal, Ratcliffe called China the primary threat to US national security and the greatest global threat to democracy and freedom since World War II.
“They want US laws to be favorable to China. Their actions are to use blackmail, bribery, open and hidden influence to try to ensure the passage of only such laws that are beneficial to China,” the Intelligence Director said According to Ratcliffe, he informed the house and Senate intelligence committees about what was happening, whose members found the information provided “unexpected and disturbing.”
In the aforementioned article for the Wall Street Journal, the Director of Intelligence said that in 2020, China launched a large-scale influence campaign, which targeted dozens of congressmen and their aides.